Lucy Millington
Lucy Ann Millington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Lucy A. Bishop June 10, 1825 |
| Died | January 17, 1900 (aged 74) New Russia, New York |
Resting place | New Russia, New York |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Spouse | Stokes P. Millington |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | botany |
Lucy Ann Bishop Millington (June 10, 1825 – January 17, 1900) was an American self-taught botanist known for her discovery of Arceuthobium pusillum, a species of dwarf mistletoe that was damaging trees in New York State.[1]
Early life and education
Born Lucy Bishop, she was the second child in a wealthy merchant family that owned several businesses in New Russia (now Elizabethtown), a town in the Adirondack region of New York.[2] Bishop was self-taught, though she likely attended local schools.[1]
Career and research
Millington had a decades-long career in botany; her first notable publication was the 1871 discovery of A. pusillum.[3] She proceeded to publish a number of articles in popular science and contributed extensively to herbaria in New York. Throughout her career, she corresponded and collaborated with Charles Peck. She is commemorated alongside the rest of her family, with statues in their hometown.[1] She was a mentor to Liberty Hyde Bailey, whom she first met in 1876 in Michigan, when she was already established and he an eighteen-year-old student interested in botany.[4]
Millington died in New Russia, New York and her gravestone says: Lucy A. Bishop, wife of Stokes P. Millington, 1825-1900.[3]
Selected publications
The published writings of Lucy Millington pertaining to natural history:[5]
- Millington, Lucy (1868). "An albino humming-bird". Amer. Naturalist. 2 (2): 110. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (November 1871a). "New mistletoe". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 2 (11): 43–44. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (December 1871b). "Arceuthobium". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 2 (12): 47–48. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (1872a). "Sphagnum". Old and New. 6 (2): 237–243.
- Millington, Lucy (1872b). "Aspidium thelypteris Swartz". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 3 (9): 43–44. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (1872c). "Fungi". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 3 (9): 44. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (1872d). "Arceuthobium shedding its seed". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 3 (12): 55–56. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (1873). "Ferns". Old and New. 8 (6): 694–698.
- Millington, Lucy (1874). "Variations". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 5 (2): 9. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy (1875a). "Winter in the Adirondacks". Old and New. 11 (2): 201–206.
- Millington, Lucy (1875b). "Thoreau and Wilson Flagg". Old and New. 11 (4): 460–464.
- Millington, Lucy A. (1882). "Summer days at Lake George" (PDF). St. Nicholas. 9 (10): 794–803. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy A. (1883). "The bulbs of Epilobium palustre". Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 10 (2): 24. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- Millington, Lucy A. (1899). "The continuance of species". J. Natl. Sci. Club. 2 (5). Washington, D.C.: 15–18. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
References
- 1 2 3 Creese, Mary R. S. (January 1, 2000). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780585276847.
- ↑ Smith (1992), p. 114.
- 1 2 Bailey, Liberty Hyde (January 1, 1939). "Lucy Millington". Torreya; A Monthly Journal of Botanical Notes and News. 39: 159–163 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ↑ Tolley, Kim (2014). The Science Education of American Girls: A Historical Perspective. Taylor & Francis. pp. 115–117, 125. ISBN 9781135339272.
- ↑ Smith (1992), pp. 147–148.
Bibliography
- Smith, Beatrice Sheer (1992). "Lucy Bishop Millington, Nineteenth-century Botanist: Her Life and Letters to Charles Horton Peck, State Botanist of New York" (PDF). Huntia: A Journal of Botanical History. 8 (2): 111–153. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019.
External links
- "Lucy Millington". William G. Pomeroy Foundation. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
